Air traffic control finally moving to new premises

Air traffic control will finally move to its new premises in Kokkinotrimithia, a €16 million building that has been empty since it was built 15 years ago, the government announced on Wednesday.

The transport ministry said infrastructure is ready and technical systems have been installed and that the move would take till the end of the year, with most work to move the services expected in October.

The systems installed in the new control centre will serve increasing air traffic in Cyprus for the next ten or more years.

Air traffic control will now boast upgraded systems, including air traffic management, communications and air conditioning.

The ministry said the Covid pandemic slowed things down and that the delivery of the new systems was a time-consuming procedure.

It added that moving was in itself a complicated endeavour, considering that the service operated on a 24-hour basis.

The service is so important that “moving to the new environment can only be completed when it is secured that no problems will arise to affect its safety and efficiency levels,” the ministry said.

The move is being made gradually and for a while both control centres will be operational.

Eurocontrol is closely monitoring the move, which could not be made from May to October, as the international practice for such projects was to carry them out during off-peak periods.

Staff is currently undergoing training to operate the systems.